Yemen’s Houthis Detain US Embassy Employees

 

Detained were guarding old embassy compound

by Jason Ditz 

Posted onNovember 11, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsState Dept, Yemen

The US State Department is complaining that Yemen’s Houthi movement arrested several US government employees around the embassy compound. Exact numbers were not revealed.

The US closed this embassy in the leadup to the Saudi-led invasion. The remaining employees were Yemenis hired to guard the building. Most of them were already releases.

The Houthis have kept some, despite State Dept. protests, and it’s not clear why. The US has participated in the Saudi War against the Houthis, but is less active these days. Still, the war has made the Houthis suspicious, likely more so to nations at war with them.

That may be informing the US response too. Considering the Houthis “rebels” at best, or Iranian proxies at worst, the US don’t consider them to have arrest powers over the guards, even though they’ve been in de facto control of Sanaa for years.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/11/11/yemens-houthis-detain-us-embassy-employees/